Club Advisor

Mr. Kilgour has been the Chess Club Advisor since 2009. During that time, he has mentored dozens of students in the game with several students winning local tournaments and posting top-five and top-ten finishes in state level tournaments as well. Mr. Kilgour approaches teaching the game the way he approaches teaching in the Special Education classroom: by individualizing the instruction and analyzing student performance, he then tailors the chess curriculum to fit the needs of the student. In this way, a student will know their weaknesses and given tips on improving on them while reinforcing their strengths at the same time. Mr. Kilgour values piece safety, proper piece positioning, defensive play, and precise attacking over wild tactics and rash attacks.

Mr. Kilgour is active in the tournament scene himself, recently scoring a second place finish in the 2013 Capital City Open in Concord, NH and was the highest finishing Under-1250 player at the New Hampshire Open in June 2013. Mr. Kilgour also finished in fourth place in the 2010 New Hampshire Amateur Championship. He is currently seeking Local Chess Coach certification from the United States Chess Federation.